


Fulfilled, Not Finished

by Annide



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Limitless (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Car Accidents, Established Relationship, Everything Hurts, Hiding an injury, M/M, Post-Canon, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23188153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: When the squad finds a potential witness for their case, Ike volunteers himself and Brian to go check it out. But things take a dark turn.
Relationships: Brian Finch/Ike | Jason
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667122
Kudos: 7





	Fulfilled, Not Finished

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo: Bleeding Out

They had been walking for a long time. Or what felt like a long time. It had probably only been 10 or 15 minutes in reality. Ike was starting to fear they might be going in the wrong direction, but Brian had assured him it was the right way. He’d memorised maps on the way. It was a long drive, he’d been bored and had thought it could come in handy to have an extensive knowledge of the area. Turned out he was right, he usually was while on NZT, which was unbelievably annoying. Ike checked his phone constantly, hoping to get a signal.

Brian looked pale and weak. He walked at a pace much slower than his usual stride, which was particularly strange considering their current situation. He’d also gotten uncharacteristically quiet in the past few minutes. Ike was starting to doubt they’d make it to the gas station.

“Are you sure you’re fine? You don’t look like you can keep walking much longer.”

“Perfectly fine! Don’t worry, I’m on NZT, I can do anything. Including finding us help.”

“We can take a break.”

“No.” Brian said, a little harsher than was necessary. “We’re almost there, I’m sure of it. The sooner we can call for help, the better.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? So we can get away from here.”

“What’s wrong, Brian?”

Ike walked ahead and stopped in front of him, grabbing his shoulders to steady him so he could look him in the eyes. Now that they stood so close to each other, he could hear how shallow Brian’s breathing sounded. He could feel him shaking under his hands. Brian was staring right back at him, smiling confidently. But Ike wasn’t fooled. It was the NZT. He was using everything he knew about tells of a lie to avoid giving himself away, he was probably controlling his pain with it too. Ike could see sweat beading his forehead; when he took his hands, they felt clammy and they’d lost their warmth. No matter how much access he had to his brain, there were a multitude of physical reactions Brian couldn’t stop. He wasn’t fine.

“You told me you weren’t hurt.”

“Why are we stopping? Ike, you could have a concussion from that head wound or internal bleeding from the shock and the airbag, we need to keep going.”

“So could you.”

“Exactly. Now, I’m telling you again, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Ike wanted to insist, but by now he knew how stubborn Brian was. And he looked worse by the minute, they needed to get help. Even if he could make his boyfriend admit he’d been injured somehow, there was nothing they could do here. They might as well keep walking toward the gas station where they could call for help, unless they could get a signal before then. Ike put his arm around Brian who sighed in protest but put his own around his shoulder and leaned on him for support. It seemed to help, Brian’s breathing evened out a bit and they walked another few minutes in silence. They were out of the woods now, surrounded by fields and Ike could see something in the distance. They were getting closer.

Then Brian collapsed.

* * *

After days working on this case, they finally had a lead. Brian had managed to find a witness that might be able to help them gather more information, maybe even give them an idea what their suspect looked like. Problem was, said witness lived on a farm in upstate New York and had only been in the city for a short weekend trip. It was a long drive away and no one, absolutely no one, wanted to go that far to check it out. It would take the whole day to get there and back, just for a conversation. They were all already starting to spit out their excuses. No one wanted to have to be the one to do it. No one except Brian’s dumb boyfriend apparently.

“Brian and I could go. It’d be fun, like a road trip!”

Brian hid his face in his hand. Why did he have to pull him into it too? He had no desire to sit in a car for hours. It didn’t even matter how adorable Ike looked all excited about the idea, Brian hated it.

“What if the team needs me though? Wouldn’t it be kind of a waste of NZT to make me sit in a car all day?”

“You get so much done by looking things up on your phone anyway, you can work from the car if we need you.”

Rebecca jumped at the opportunity to send them away, which Brian thought was just a little rude and self-serving. He felt like he was being thrown under the bus, punished for falling for his bodyguard.

“I also get a lot done through arts and crafts. I can’t do crafts in a car!”

“You’ll survive.” Boyle chimed in. “Thank you for volunteering, Jason.”

“Don’t thank him, no, please, I don’t want to go.”

Rebecca was practically laughing at him as Ike took his hand and pulled him away toward the elevator. When the doors closed, leaving them alone, Brian crossed his arms and stared angrily at his boyfriend. Ike came closer, practically pinning him to the wall.

“What? Don’t you want to spend a whole day just the two of us?”

“Yes, but sitting in a car with nothing to do isn’t really what I’d have in mind.”

“We can talk, listen to music and sing along. It’ll be fun, I swear.”

“Hmmhm.”

“Now, open up, I haven’t given you your NZT yet.”

Brian opened his mouth like the docile man he could be, but kept giving his boyfriend the stink eye. Ike deposited the clear pill on his tongue in a way that was a tad too seductive for the office, but it made all the tension leave Brian. Ike put his arms on either side of him, locking him in, and leaned closer. Brian could feel his breath on his face.

“What’s the matter with you anyway? You love road trips.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You being excited about it every time the opportunity presented itself?”

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

“Brian.”

They’d been going out for almost a year now. They’d started getting closer after Ike got shot. Brian hung out with him until he was released from the hospital and then accompanied him to rehab in the following weeks whenever he could. They’d gotten to know each other and become good friends. After Brian’s first day back at the CJC after the whole thing with Sands, they’d gone back to his apartment to celebrate the new squad, had a little to drink and one thing had led to another. They’d been going pretty strong ever since. Brian had planned a whole thing to ask Ike to move in with him, and being away all day would ruin everything. He had to be in New York today, why couldn’t this road trip have happened literally any other day?

“I just have things I need to do here today.”

“I’m sure whatever it is can wait until tomorrow.”

“Not really, I mean, there’s this delivery I’m waiting for and-”

He was cut off by Ike’s mouth suddenly on his. Kissing him was the best way to shut him up and Ike took advantage of that regularly. It had gotten to the point where Boyle signaled him when he was annoyed with Brian’s ramblings. But it was okay. Brian quite enjoyed it. Plus, he could feel and experience everything with so much more detail and intensity when he was on NZT, not something he had the chance to do all that often, so any excuse was good enough.

“You know, Ike, I feel really lucky to have met you.”

“Yeah, lucky I was assigned to be your babysitter.”

“Bodyguard! Come on, Ike! You’re killing the mood.”

“We don’t have time for what you have in mind, Brian, we have work to do.”

“We’re only halfway down to the garage.”

Brian put a hand behind Ike’s head to pull him in for a kiss. He let his other hand wander down his chest all the way to his belt buckle where Ike stopped him. It was quite impressive to see him show so much restraint considering how wrecked he already looked, how much he seemed to want to let Brian to whatever he wanted to him.

“Not in here, people could come in anytime.”

Brian was happy. For the first time in his life, he felt like he had it together. He was with a great guy he was ready to move in with, he had a job he loved and his relationship with his family was better than ever. He was in a great place. He had found his place in the world and could only hope for things to stay like this forever.

“Alright, I’ll keep my hands away.” Brian put his hands up in surrender. “So, since you volunteered us for the road trip, does that mean I get to pick the music?”

“Shouldn’t the driver get to pick the music?”

“That wouldn’t be fair, you know I don’t have a valid license.”

“How about this, you pick the music, I pick the snacks.”

“Not sure I can trust you with such an important task, but fine.”

As soon as Brian resigned himself and accepted that his plans to propose to move in together were ruined, he finally got into it and the whole thing became a lot of fun. They played all sorts of road trip games, Ike was surprisingly great at punch buggy. They did a few rounds of kiss marry kill, but it’s a lot less fun to play with your boyfriend. They sang along to a bunch of songs, Brian had a special road trip playlist already made in case of such an occasion. They were having a great time.

They made it to town by lunchtime. Their witness lived a little outside of it, but they decided to stop there for a little while. They could get some fresh air and get a bite to eat before they went and talked to them. They found a diner, more accurately Brian remembered the location of a diner from looking at the maps, and had some pizza.

“Hey, Ike.”

“Yeah?”

“I had a whole thing planned that kinda got ruined by this unexpected trip, but, uh, I wanted to ask you if, uh, maybe, if you feel like it, you could move in with me?”

“You want me to move in with you? Seriously?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I could move in with you also, unless you don’t want that at all. I wouldn’t blame you if you got sick of me.”

“I would love to move in with you. And I could never get sick of you, you might get sick of me though.”

“Pretty sure it would’ve happened already if it was possible, so we’re good.”

Ike smiled so bright, it was contagious. Brian never thought he could ever be this happy. His heart felt full, almost bursting with joy and love. They finished their pizza, took a short walk around town, hand in hand, and got back to the car. Play time was over, they had to work now. Ike tried his best to straighten his suit before climbing in. It got a little rumpled with all the sitting on their long drive there. Brian laughed. That kind of thing didn’t happen when you wore sweaters. It looked less official and would get him taken less seriously, but as soon as they heard what he had to say, their impression of him would change. It always did, it was a gift from the drug.

None of that mattered though. They never made it to the farm. Ike swerved to avoid hitting a deer, he hit a pothole, lost control and they ended up in the ditch. The shock broke the windshield and glass went everywhere, though the airbags absorbed most of it. It was how Ike got spared, except for what looked like a minor head wound. Brian, however, wasn’t as lucky. There was a bush on his side and as they made their descent, one of the thicker branches entered through the open window and lodged itself right underneath Brian’s ribcage, piercing all the way through to his inferior vena cava.

Because of the NZT, he could feel everything inside his body. The vein had been nicked opened, not completely, but enough that he was bleeding severely. For now, that blood was mostly staying inside him, its exit blocked by the branch still in his side. But it wouldn’t save him. He might be able to hold on for half an hour, maybe. It was all the time he had to get help. He took a deep breath and shut off the part of the brain responsible for feeling pain. He knew how bad it was, he didn’t need to feel it. Pain would only slow him down. He managed to break the branch to free himself from the bush and turned to his boyfriend.

“Ike! Ike, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Ike looked himself over, tried moving a little and turned to Brian. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But we can’t stay here.”

“What? Why not?”

“There’s no phone signal. Can you walk? Because I remember there being a gas station at the end of this road. It’s far, but I think we can make it.”

“How are you so collected? We were just in a car crash!”

“I’m on NZT, remember?”

“Right. Are you sure going there is the best plan?”

“Yes. They’ll have a phone and we can call for help. We’re just sitting ducks here. Let’s go.”

They extirpated themselves from the car and started walking. At first they talked, if only to distract themselves. But Brian, as much as he needed to focus on anything beside his present condition, couldn’t keep it up. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. He could feel his heartbeat getting too fast. He wanted to walk faster, to try and get to the gas station as soon as possible, but he was too weak. They were maybe two thirds of the way there and he was so tired. He pushed through it as much as he could, used every possible option that could help him. All in the hopes that they could make it.

Part of him knew that even if they did get to the gas station, no ambulance would reach them quickly enough. He was a dead man walking. Whether it was on the side of this road or inside that gas station, Brian was going to bleed out today. Probably in the next few minutes.

He didn’t want to die. He was finally happy. He’d just finally gotten his life together. For the first time in his life, he mattered. He was doing important work with people he really enjoyed working with. He and Boyle had become friends. Darryl, previously Mike, and his wife came on regular double dates with him and Ike. He had gotten into a good rhythm with James’ D&D group. He and Rebecca were closer than ever. Now that there weren’t any secrets left between them, their friendship could flourish. They were at that point where they didn’t have to say everything, they could just look at each other. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye. He couldn’t leave them like that.

He thought about texting them all. There was no signal, but they would inevitably bring him and his phone back eventually. It would send then. He was about to get his phone out when Ike broke the silence.

“Are you sure you’re fine? You don’t look like you can keep walking much longer.”

“Perfectly fine! Don’t worry, I’m on NZT, I can do anything. Including finding us help.”

Brian tried his best to sound his usual enthusiastic self. The last thing he needed was to worry his boyfriend. Ike. How could he tell Ike he was dying? How could he possibly hurt him like that? It would crush him, destroy him. And he couldn’t face him. If he saw the slightest amount of pain on Ike’s face, he would probably break himself.

He wasn’t ready. He had so much more he wanted to do with his life. Like turn 30, move in with Ike, possibly have kids. It was too soon. What had been the point of trying so hard all of his life if he was going to die right when he found happiness? And what about Ike? How was it fair for him to lose the man he loved? They’d found each other. Brian who was nobody before all of this, someone who was pitied and judged more than anything. And Ike who was last of his class at Quantico, who’d never had much success before he got the support their team at the CJC gave him.

“We can take a break.”

“No.”

He might have been a little harsh in his rush to dismiss the idea. They needed to keep moving. If they stopped, it was over. It would be like giving up. The odds might be against them, his chances of survival might be slim, but it was still better than nothing. Brian wanted to live and his only hope was to make it to that gas station before he bled out. If he could just make it there, even if he passed out there, maybe he could still be saved. He might lose blood at a slower rate if he stopped moving, if he just lay down. If they could only make it to the gas station.

They argued a little, then Ike saw reason and decided to keep going. When he put his arm around him, Brian objected, still trying to pretend he was fine. But he was getting so tired, and there was still what seemed like too long a way to walk. So he extended his arm over Ike’s shoulder and leaned on him. It helped. It provided him a bit of relief as making less effort made it easier to breathe. For the next few minutes, Brian felt encouraged. They were making progress. When they exited the woods and they could finally see the gas station in the distance, Brian thought for a moment that they might actually make it, that he might actually survive this.

Without the protection of the trees, the sun was shining hard on them. Brian didn’t know whether it was that or the blood loss, but he was starting to feel a little woozy. He found it harder to concentrate on the steps he was taking and felt himself slipping from Ike’s grasp. Until he fell to the ground.

“Brian!”

Ike kneeled beside him, pulling him into his arms. His face was stricken with worry. Brian felt it, it was like being stabbed all over again. He couldn’t hide anything from him anymore. He had to come clean, he had to break his heart.

“Ike, I’m so sorry.”

“What... Brian, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

Brian pulled up his shirt so his boyfriend could see his hand holding a now blood-soaked rag to his abdomen. He moved it away long enough to show the branch deeply embedded there.

“When we crashed, there was a bush on my side and this branch just stabbed me I guess. I’m not gonna make it, Ike. I’m losing blood too fast. I’m d-“

“No. Don’t say it. You’re not dying. You’ll make it. I’ll make sure you do.” His voice broke. No matter how much he wanted what he said to be true, Brian could tell there was something inside him telling him how dire the situation really was. “I can’t lose you, Brian.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault. I was driving.”

“No, please, Ike, don’t do this to yourself. This wasn’t your fault. I’m still on NZT, you know, I’d be able to tell. I swear it wasn’t. Accidents just happen sometimes.”

“But if I hadn’t-“

“Then we would’ve hit that deer and might’ve gotten hurt just as bad. We can’t know for sure, but there’s nothing you could’ve done. I promise.”

Ike looked unsure. He still blamed himself and Brian knew he couldn’t do anything to change that. He wished he could, but nothing he’d say would convince him. And he had no desire to spend the time he had left on that.

“I’ll carry you. You’re too weak to walk now, but I can bring you to the gas station on piggyback and we can call an ambulance.”

At least that plan had the benefit of Brian getting to be close to Ike, feeling his warmth as his own started to leave him. His arms wrapped around his boyfriend’s shoulders, his head lolling against Ike’s neck, his eyes fluttering close. By the time they made it to the gas station, Brian was freezing. Ike sat him against a wall and draped his blazer over him.

While Ike was on the phone, Brian stared at the man he loved, feeling lucky he got a chance to know him, got a chance to play even a small part in his life. Ike would probably have several more boyfriends, who would call him by his actual name, one he would get to grow old with and have everything he wanted. That’s all Brian wanted for Ike, that he found happiness, even if it was with somebody else. Which it would have to be. He could feel life leaving him.

When Ike came back, Brian snuggled into him, burying his face in his chest so he could smell him. If he had to die, he wanted all of his senses to be filled with Ike. He raised his eyes and reached up to cup Ike’s face. He rubbed his thumb against his cheek, tears forming in his eyes. Their lips met in a desperate kiss, a kiss full of all the love Brian had for Ike, a kiss he wished expressed how grateful he was for him.

A kiss that meant thank you for everything. A kiss that meant goodbye.

* * *

The ambulance got there quick, but the wait still felt excruciating. Ike held Brian in his arms, doing his best to make him feel comfortable, talking to him to keep him awake, trying his best not to lose his composure as he felt him getting cold and heard his breathing get shallower by the minute. The only thing bringing him the slightest bit of comfort was the knowledge that Brian wasn’t in any pain.

When they met, it was Ike’s job to protect Brian and, even though it wasn’t anymore, he felt like he failed in it. He was the trained FBI agent, it was assumed he would do everything to make sure their consultant didn’t get hurt on the job. And yet, he was now watching paramedics load this consultant he’d fallen in love with into an ambulance. He had failed at his job the way he failed at everything else. He’d barely made it through at Quantico, he’d ended up being Brian’s bodyguard because he’d fallen asleep on the job, he had to stay in the Arctic circle longer than necessary because he couldn’t notice a woman around him was the wife of the most wanted he was looking for despite her picture being in the file. Getting Brian killed was only the worst and most recent of his failures as an agent.

It didn’t matter how many times or how many ways Brian told him it wasn’t his fault, Ike knew it was. Brian didn’t even want to come here in the first place. Ike had made him and now he was dying. How could he not blame himself? How could he not feel responsible for ruining the only good thing he’d ever had in his life? He could never forgive himself for that.

“Ike...”

Brian’s voice was strained. The lack of protest from the paramedic when he took his oxygen mask off to talk didn’t bode well. They all knew they were running out of time. No matter how fast they were driving, their chances were slim at best.

“Yes, Brian?”

“Could you... Could you tell my family I love them? And that I didn’t want to die, but at least I got to be very happy before it happened, and I couldn’t have gotten here without them?”

“Of course, I will.”

“Thank you.”

Brian smiled weakly. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. This man didn’t deserve to die. He was so kind and sweet. He was good to the core. He had it hard and he’d made mistakes, but he always stayed a good person. They couldn’t lose him. The world needed Brian Finch. More than that, Ike needed his boyfriend. He couldn’t lose him. It was too soon.

“I love you, Brian.”

“I love you too.”

How could Ike ever face Brian’s parents? How could he possibly set foot in that house in Westchester and tell them their son was dead? It would be impossible. It couldn’t happen. Ike couldn’t do it. And he knew no one else could. Neither Rebecca or Darryl, or even Boyle could stand in front of the Finches and give them that kind of news. It would break them. It would break anybody.

Brian put his oxygen mask back on and took Ike’s hand in his. They stared at each other, both hoping, but not really believing, that they might make it to the hospital in time. But it was already incredible they’d made it this far, that they’d made it to the gas station, and that Brian held on long enough for the ambulance to get there. His hand was cold and clammy. He could barely keep his eyes open, but Ike was grateful he made the effort so he could look into them one last time.

He felt Brian’s hold loosen as tears filled both of their eyes. Ike tightened his fingers around Brian’s hand to keep it from falling. They’d made it out of town, they were on the road, headed to the small city where the closest hospital was. But it didn’t matter. It was too late. It had always been too late.

Brian’s eyes fluttered closed. His hand went limp in Ike’s. His head fell to the side. The heart monitor went wild. His heart had stopped. Ike let go of his hand as the paramedic started to work on bringing him back. Nothing she did changed anything. She shocked him a few times, without success. The line on the monitor flattened. There just wasn’t enough blood left to circulate. They couldn’t revive him. Brian was dead.

Ike collapsed into sobs over him. His boyfriend was gone. Brian was gone. The paramedic put a supportive hand on the back of Ike’s shoulder, feeling his pain, but helpless to appease it. There wasn’t much to say in a moment like this. Ike’s world had just fallen apart. He didn’t need words. He needed his boyfriend to not have died. He needed Brian to open his eyes and smile at him like he always did. But he knew he wouldn’t.

* * *

Rebecca was sitting at her desk, filling paperwork, when she noticed the time, the afternoon was almost gone. She checked her phone, but she hadn’t missed any new messages. She texted Brian, then Jason, but received no answer from either. They should’ve been on their way back by now. She turned to Boyle.

“Have you heard from Brian or Jason?”

“No, you?”

“Not in hours. That’s weird. I wonder what that’s about.”

She was worried. It wasn’t like either of them to suddenly be out of touch. She couldn’t explain it, but she had a feeling something was wrong.

“It’s probably nothing. I bet they’re just enjoying some time alone, away from everyone. They must’ve stopped somewhere and lost track of time.”

“Wouldn’t they have updated us on the case first?”

“It’s Brian we’re talking about here. I love the guy, but he’s not the most structured.”

“He still always texts me when he has something. Even if it’s random stuff that doesn’t matter. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. Come on, I’ll help you finish this off, and we can go for a drink.”

Rebecca went back to work, and she had a great time drinking beer with Boyle and Darryl. But there was still this nagging feeling that wouldn’t leave her. Like something terrible had happened and her world was about to be turned upside down. She shook that thought from her mind. It must be like Boyle said, just stress from this case they couldn’t crack. She must simply be anxious for Brian and Jason to get them a lead that she was blowing things out of proportion. Everything would be fine.

She hoped.


End file.
